Manufacture of filamentary articles



2 SHEETS- sm 1 fha HTTORNEYS IN VE VTR.

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A. O. RYAN /51 T Dlx Jan. 8, 1952 Filed Juiy 419, 1948 J'an. 8, 1952 A,o, RYAN 2,581,559

MANUFACTURE OF FILAMENTARY ARTICLES Filed July 19, 1948 'A 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Jan. 8, 1952 MANUFACTURE OF FILAMENTARY ARTICLES Albert0. Ryan, Norwalk, Conn., assignor to Redding Manufacturing Company,Inc., Norwalk, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application July 19,1948, Serial No. 39,432

18 Claims. (Cl. 18-8) My invention relates to the manufacture ofiilaments from liquids susceptible to solidiilcation or hardening eitherby physical or chemical means, and comprises both method and apparatusimprovements.

The invention may be considered an improvement over the inventiondescribed in my United States Patent No. 2,402,846, granted June 25,1946 and my co-pending application Serial No. 183,597, iiled September7, 1950,`which is a division of application Serial No. 491,476, filedJune 19, 1943, now Patent No. 2,402,846, and a continuation-in-part ofco-pending application Serial No. 677,972, filed June 20, 1946, nowabandoned. It is particularly valuable as applied in the manufacture ofiilamentary articles including filaments, tapes, ribbons and the like.Such articles may be made from a wide variety of materials, hereinafterreferred to generally as lament forming material, and including forexample, latices or dispersions of rubbers and elastomers, natural,synthetic and artiiicial; dispersions in Water, solvents or plasticizersof resins or polymers of the thermoplastic and thermosetting type whilein thermoplastic stage; solutions oi rubbers, resins `andcellulosederivatives, and resinous and other material including, forexample, low melting point alloys, asphalts, etc. capable of beingliquified and hardened, and liquid polymers which can be solidifiedfurther by the application of heat in contact with suitable catalysts.

According to the method set forth and claimed in my Patent No.2,402,846, which is preferably practiced using the system of apparatushereinafter described and claimed, the filament forming liquid isprojected in a particular manner as a fine stream, or as a plurality ofstreams, having a cross sectional area dependent on the size of theiilamentary article it is desired to produce, into the center of astream of another or hardening liquid hereinafter referred to asconiining liquid, and is carried therein under conditions not permittingof distortion of the iine stream for a period of time suiiicient forsolidifying the material and at least partially hardening it.

The hardening treatment may vary in accordance with the filament formingmaterial employed. Thus, for example, it may be hardened by heating orcooling, or by chemical reaction. The confining liquid may be employedas a heating or cooling medium and its temperature modified for thispurpose. A confining liquid may be selected which, apart from itstemperature, for example,` has a coagulating effect upon the filamentforming material; or which serves to extract the solvent of the lamentforming material. 'I'hus the confining liquid may be heated, forexample, for hardening rubber latex to form rubber thread, or cooled forhard'- ening a molten material such, for example, as a resin, a lowmelting point alloy, etc.; or it maybe employed to dehydrate thematerial as, for example, by the use of a combination of heat andglycerine, or to carry on a polymerization step etc.

The confining liquid Will-ordinarily be of relatively greater crosssectional area than that of 'the stream of filament forming `materialand sufficiently viscous to ow through the tube with viscous flow. Thistype of flow is characterized by absence of turbulence and the fact thatthe filament forming liquid and the confining liquid will not mixirrespective of Whether they are otherwise miscible or immiscible. Theviscous confining liquid is retarded adjacent the inner surface of thetube by frictional contact with the tube, Whereas the portion nearer thecenter ofthe tube will move more rapidly. The lament forming material isintroduced Linto the stream of confining liquid at' substantially thesame speed as that of the conning liquid in the center area and thefilament forming material therefore travels down the tube within thecon.- iiining liquid without tension.

My method is superior to methods heretofore proposed for forminglamentary articles, particularly in that the stream of filament formingliquid is never at any time under tension ywhich is advantageous in thatthe product thread is never appreciably attenuated during its formation,at any point along its length and is therefore characterized by highuniformity in diameter.

Prior art methods of manufacturing filamentary articles areunsatisfactory because theyA have involved tension on the article duringits formation, thus limiting the speed of manufacture and impairing itsquality and its uniformityv in diameter. Those processes in which theiilament forming material has been extruded througha nozzle into aheated or cooled coagulating medium have experienced difficulty duetothe heating or cooling of the nozzle resulting from its contact withlthe coagulating medium which causes the fllamentary material to adhereto the nozzle and to form a sticky mass on the nozzle impairiiig thedischarge4 of the material from the nozzle. i

Aciieiingly, it is an object of my inventionto -of .Figure 2.

provide a method and apparatus forovercom.-

` ing the deliciencies of the prior art.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple method andapparatus by which filamentary articles may be manufactured continuouslyat high speed substantially Vabove the speeds employed in prior artmethods.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide method and apparatus formaking filamentary articles'continuously wherein the extrusion of the?material from the forming nozzle is unhampered by deposit of thematerial on the nozle'.

ning liquid'having a dehydrating action is de-V sirable since thedehydrating action will aid any or all actions where aqueousvdispersions are em-Y ployed. Ease of recovery by distillation and iractionation has the advantage of economy since it facilitates reuse of theliquid; A high viscosity at 'high-temperatures is" very desirable forhigh Another object of the invention is to provide Y amethod andapparatus for accurately andV automatically centering a stream oflament'forming material (which may comprise a single streamer a numberof closely grouped streams) within a,

Vstream of confining liquid.

Another object of the invention is to vprovide for flexible and accuratecontrol of the diameter 'fa lamentary article andl t'o make it possibleto manufacture such articles having improved regularityin'form and insurface `finish with inf creased ease and accuracy 'of control, and toeff- Yfect a substantial economy inl the time required for starting andStopping or. changingfrom one Vmanufacturing operation to another,involving,

for example, a changein the v'size or kind of filan .ment beingmanufacture.

Other vobjects of the invention willA be inpart obvious or in partpointed out hereinafter. 1

The invention accordingly consists of the ,fea tures of constructionycombinations of elements, arrangements VofV parts, and inthe several`steps and relation and order of each or said steps to l mixing chamberspositionedatop the confining liquid manifold inA-Figure 1 .Y

Figure 3 is a plan View .taken `on the line 3--1-3 of* Figure 2v; and fj Figure 44 vis a plan view taken on the line .4-74

Y The system of Figure 1 will be seen as comprising a source of supplyof liquid latex Il), legended in the drawing Latex Pressure Cl'la'mber,lconvn'ecting,` via a short section II, withl a manifold i725 servingvmixing-` chambers I3,V I4, anddl through Valve-controlled lines I5, I'Iand Iilfre- ".spectively, a-Source of supplyof confining liquid i9,legended Conning Liquid Pressure Chamber, connected via line with amanifold 2l,

. `and.various. auxiliary equipment vincluding la .sourceof compressedair..2`2 charged Vvialine 23 .extending to 'a compressor unit, notshown. 1n Ylieuv of air, nitrogen or other inert gas be lisd. L Y Y t.

`For the confining liquid it is desirable to em* .ploy a liquid,l or aAc'o'rnbination of liquids, having;

r'`i'hy'sicfal and chemical properties which provide fa high boilingpoint, and stability against thermal "decomposition, Vmaking possibletheuse ofz'h'eat. at high temperatures; excellent solvent power 'and'relative chemical inertness which permits the use therein ofsolutes ofnumerous acids, salts,

ionic and'catalytic'or hardening agents. A'conflow rates. l .Selectionof the confining liquid accordingly may depend upon a number of factorsIsuch for example as the filament forming material employed, the rate offlow desired, the temyperature employed, the availability of thematerial, and its expense. Y Y

Glycerine isawell `suited for use as a confining Yliquidfor-fformilngfilaments from latex since it has mostE of --the Vabove mentionedproperties.

However, la variety of Yother liquids having some or'all of the abovementioned properties may be employed in place of glycerine including forexample the glycols and the sorbitols, a water thickened with variousthickening agents such for'example as sodium carboxyl methyl cellulose,

. For some applications-gior example when heat transfer is vinvolved theconfining liquid can be completely immiscible with the liquid being hardened. ForI the purpose of simplifcationthe Vccniining; liquidishereafter referred to in the `description as fglycerine- Y .Compressedair tank 22 connects vialine 24 V.with adatexjreservoir 2'5 serving. thelatex :pressure chamber IB through line2. A valve Z'Iin line 24jjustbelow theelbow, is under thecontrol :offfloa't: mechanism 2B in' chamberI abeing open or .shut depending onftheliquid. levelin each chamber.Chambers I9 'and ID-'are charged with -airfrom tank 22 .viaconnections29 and 30,7re spectively. Connection 291 is provided with a re- Vvducingvalve 31'; "connection 3!) with a pressure differential valve 32.

Tank I 9, referred to hereinbefore as the source of glycerine'supplyfisitself suppliedivia lines 3'3 'and34, 4vfrom sump 35 by means ofY pump3&7l poweredV vby motor 3l which is under the control of float -38 intank I9; Exchanger 39 in line-34- ,heats the glycerine during passage ofthe -glycerine therethrough to'a temperature of the order of180`220 F.

',I'hemixing chambers I3, I4 and I5 are'iden- Y tical in constructionand will be described with particular reference to Figures 2-'4 in whichthe numeral '43 denotes a cylindrical body member, advantageously formedof glass to permit visual yobservation of the liquid flow therein. Theupper Y Vrim of 'thel Vcylindrical bodyY member nests within acomplementary groove il in aflanged head member 42, the groove beingprovided with an annular gasket 43 formed of rubber or otherrejs'ilientmaterial and vwhich 'desifrably may take theI form of `anO-ring. The lower rim of, the body,"memberl 'Imis similarlysecuredwithin a lcircular YErocn'fe 44 in the upper surface of a .hangedbase member d5, `coupling withconnection 15G Ywhich is bolted orotherwise fastened vided with va resilient gasket VIVI, while afsome"Vwhat larger gaskett'isinterposed between the ange of'thebase member andthec'onnection .465. A plurality ofsvertical passageways dein basemember l5, Veach vprogressively increasing in cross sectional 'area frombottom to top,` per- `mi`t Vtheintroduction fof glycerinef from manifold`2-I into Vthe'chamber 5E) defined for thefmost part by body-member et.vHead'merriberfeand base "member '"arefconnected'through set screws viiiwhichfextend through sleeves :or standards 52,

useful as supports in assembling and dis-assembling the unit, and whichin coaction with' gaskets `43 and 41 serve to maintain cham-ber 50essentially gas-tight. f

The upper portion of head member 42 is threaded to receive a cap 53bearing ona collar 54 provided with a shoulder 55. An annularly groovedsleeve member 56, threaded at the top to receive a cap 51, extendsthrough collar 54 and into the chamber 50 to serve as a guide for ahollow needle-like supply tube 58 provided at its lower end with anozzle 59, the orifice of which depends on the size and shape of thelamentary article. Tube 58 Vis further equipped with a coupling 69 bymeans of which it is con. nected to one of the latex supply linesextending from manifold l2.

Cap 51 threaded on sleeve 56 bears` on shoulder 5I of a collar B2 whichin turn bears on a small annular sealing gasket 63 in a well 64 bored inthe upper end of the sleeve. In a manner similar to collar 52, collar 54bears on double sealing gaskets 65 surrounding sleeve 56. Between thesegaskets and another set of sealing gaskets 66 is interposed a ring 61having an annular groove 68 from which a radial air passage l61a mayextend through the ring to facilitate communication with chamber 5).Sleeve 56 has a portion 56a of reduced diameter forming an annulargroove around the sleeve and the lower end of ring B1 extends over thisgroove and gaskets 66 are sealed in it. Ring 61 nts sufciently looselyso that air can be introduced to or escape from chamber 5B throughfixture 69 which connects with one of the valve-controlled lines 10 (seeFigure 1). Air pressure in chamber 59 can also be reduced by looseningrotary cap 51 thus reducing the pressure on gasket 63.

Tube 12 is shown extending intorthe mixing chamber through a core 1I inbase member45. Core 1I may be unitary with tube 12 or 'shrunk thereon sothat no seal between the core and tube is required. The vertical axis oftube 12 coincides with that of needle 58 and nozzle 59. Tube 12 ispreferably flared at its top or provided with a fixture 13 giving theeffect of a flared top and is normally spaced from the tip of the nozzle59 about as indicated in the drawing (Figure 2). The lower end of thetube extends through manifold 2| and its length may be varied accordingto the materials and the subsequent steps employed.

In operation of the system, as should be apparent from the foregoing,heated glycerine is continuously forced from tank or chamber I9, bypressure of air admitted from compressed air tank 22, through line 2Dinto manifold 21, thence upwards through the passageways 49 into chamber59 and overv the rim of the fixture 13. The increasing diameterof thepassageways 49 tends to avoid turbulence at their mouths opening to thechamber, reduced the inertia of the flowing liquid, and moreover,simplies the boring of the passageways which desirably are entirelyuniform and spaced equidistant about the core 1|.

Compressed air admitted at the top of chamber l forces latex through thelatex manifold and thence via lines I6, I1 and I8 through the needles inthe mixing chambers respectively. The pressure on the glycerine and thepressure of the gas or air within chamber l] are balanced to control thelevel of the glycerine within `chamber 59 so that it will extend overthe upper rim of tube 12 and provide a liquid seal preventing the escapeof gasor air from chamber 5U, Without rising so far above thetop oi'vtube 12I as to destroyfthe converging funnel-shaped flow which isyutilized to insure centering of the stream orv streams of lamentforming material within the stream of glycerine. Even if the lamentforming liquid is for any reason not projected accurately into thecenter of the stream of glycerine it vwill land on the converging,funnel-shaped surface of the glyccrine and will be carried into thecenter of the stream of glycerine within tube 12. Thus even if thenozzle 59 or its supply tube should be bent, or the tube and nozzleorifices misaligned for any reason the misalignment is compensated forby the converging flow of the glycerine into the tube over its upperrim.

The spacing of the nozzle 59 from the glycerine, which, as stated above,may be heated or cooled for .coagulating the filament forming material,

prevents the nozzle 59 from being heated or cooled by the glycerine.Thus, the temperatureof the nozzle remains substantially unaffected bythe temperature of the glycerine or other coagulating medium used. Theair or gas which is trapped Within` chamber I9 and which serves tobalance the pressure on the glycerine, surrounds the nozzle 59 andserves to insulate it. Furthermore, the continuous flow of lamentforming material through the nozzle 59 may be utilized to cool thenozzle. The difficulty of the prior art methods wherein the filamentforming material is caused to be partly coagulated by contact with thenozzle and therefore adheres to the nozzle and builds up thereon in asticky mass is thus entirely obviated. i

' Referring again now to Figure 2, itA will be seen that glycerine, theflow of which isjindicated by the arrows, is caused to cascade over therim of the fixture 13 to provide a converging, funnelshaped liquidsurface converging from above the rim of the xture to within tube 12,and that the stream of filament forming latex is projected into thecenter of the funnel-shaped surface. The stream of latex as it movesdownwardly through the tube 12, confined within the relatively largerstream of glycerne, gradually coagulates until it is completelysolidified by the time it reaches the lower end of the tube. Thelamentary product may be led from the forming tube 12 directly throughfurther processing steps, as for example, to further harden it, to -washit, to Vdry it, to modify its temperature, to vulcanize it in the caseof rubber thread, and the like, etc., and desirably may be led directlyinto apparatus for further processing it such as is described in mycopending application Serial No. 39,431, led July 19, 1948. Theglycerine or other coagulating and confining liquid may be collected andreturned as "through tube 35a into the sump 35 for recirculation, or itmay be advanced with the filamentary article to further partake in thefur-f ther processing of the iilamentary article, as is disclosed' in mycopending applicationserial iNo. 183,597 filed September '1, 1950.

Control of the level of the funnelflikesurface of glycerineinl thechamber 5l)E is accomplished through manipulation of 'the cap 53, whichwhen loosened permits gas or air to escape from orbe introducedintochamber. I9, and the valve y69a in the line connected to fixture 69.Such level should be held as steady or unvarying as possible and shouldnever be allowed to extend above or into contact with the tip of thenozzle or below the upper rim of fixture 13. The rate of flow of thelatex is, ofcourse, dependentonthe pressure diierential'between chamber50 and the latex Pressure chamber I0. Under conditions of viscous flow,as has been previously indicated, the rate 'of ow of thefllament formingmaterial conforms exactly with the rate of flow of the glycerine streamat its center. Y

Inasmuch as the glycerine hardens the latex by dehydrating it as well asby heating it, a portion ofthe glycerine should preferably be cycledthrough a fractionating column or other equipment adapted to separatewater from glycerine. In this way harmful amounts of water can beprevented from accumulating in the system.

WhenV the glycerine is dehydrated by fractiona tion it may bepossible,.depending on the amount cycled through the fractionator, todispense with the heat exchanger shown in Figure l of the drawingsherein. I

Itwill thus be' seen that there has been provided by this invention amethod and apparatus in which the various objects hereinabove set forthtogether with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfullyachieved. As various possible embodiments might be made of themechanical features of the above invention and as the art. hereindescribed might be varied in various parts', all without departing fromthe scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all mat terhereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

l. The method of forming a filamentary article which comprises: flowinga stream of liquid into a closed chamber and causing it to cascade overthe upper rim of a. tube` extending into said chamber and to flowtherethrough with viscous flow, regulating the height of said liquidwithin Y said chamber by regulating the pressure of gas Y introducedinto said chamber above said liquid and projecting a stream of filamentforming liquid, into the converging portion of said stream of viscousliquid to cause said filament forming liquid to be conned at the centerof said stream of liquid.

`2. A system of apparatus'for manufacturing lamentary articles whichcomprises a plurality of mixing chambers each having a tube leadingtherefrom, a closed pressure chamber for a lilamentL forming liquid, afilament forming liquid manifold, conduit means between said mixingchambers individually and said filament forming liquid manifold, andconduit means intercommunicating between said pressure chamber and saidmanifold, a closed confining liquid pressure chamber, a confining liquidmanifold, conduit means between said mixing chambers 'indi'- Yviduallyand said confining liquidA manifold, a conduit communicating betweensaid confining liquid pressurev` chamber and said` confining liquidmanifold, al sourceof compressed air, and a conduit communicatingbetween said source ofr compressed' airV and said filament forming;liquid reservoir, a valvev in said conduit, means in said filament:yforming: liquid pressure chamber for controlling said valve, a conduit;interconnecting said source oflcompressed air and saidV pressurechamber, a conduit interconnecting said source of compressed air andsaid confining liquid pressure chamber, and a connectionbetweensaidlfila ment forming pressure chamber and said mixing chambersindividually to introduce gas under pressure to said mixing chambersfrom said lament forming pressurechamber. Y

3. The system as claimed in claim 2 including a confining liquid sump. areturnconduit be- Y 8 tween-said sump and said conning liquid pressurechamber, and means controlled by the liquid level in the. confiningliquid pressure chamber for returning liquid from said sump to saidchamber.

4. The system of apparatus comprising a plu-p Y rality of mixingchambers, means for supplying filament-forming material to said Vmixingchambers` under pressure, meansV for supplying a con- Y fected by saidpacking means to thereby control f the gas pressure within said chamber.

5. A Vsystem of apparatus for manufacturing iilamentary articles whichcomprises an enclosed chamber, an elongated vertically disposed tubeextending through the bottom of said chamber, a. source of supply offilament forming material, a source of supply of a confining liquid,conduit means'extending from the source of supply of said viscous liquidto within said chamber below the upper end of said elongated tube anddischargingl into said chamber at a multiplicity of points with evendistribution around said tube thereby achieving uniformity of flow andsubstantially complete avoidance of turbulence, means for admitting gasto said chamber and for exhausting it from said chamber to Vcontrol thelevel of said confining liquid within said chamber and maintain it at alevel such that it forms a liquid seal over the top of said elongatedtube and iiows into the top of the tube with a converging funnel-likeiiow, and a supply tube for said lament forming material extending intosaid chamber and disposed so as to project a stream of filament formingmaterial substantially into the center of the converging funnel-likeflow of said confining liquid. Y

6. The system of apparatus comprising a plurality of mixing chambers,means'for supplying filament forming material to vsaid mixing chambersunder pressure, means for supplying a con- Iiining liquid underpressureto said mixing chambers in which each mixing chamber comprises a headhaving a central bore,.a hollow sleeve member extending4 through saidhead into said chains ber, said means for supplying filament formingmaterial extending into vsaid sleeve and communicating with saidfilament forming liquid manifold, packing' means between said sleeve andsaid tube, a collar surrounding said sleeve having'an outwardlyextending shoulder, a cap sur--` rounding the upper portion of said headand bearing on said shoulder, and sealing means within the bore of saidhead extending around said sleeve, other sealing means within said boreand around said sleeve, andan annularlygrooved ring fittinglooselyfaround said sleeve between said sealing means and'sai'd othersealing means, a radial air passage extending through said ring tofacilitate communication between the'annular groove Vof said ring andsaid chamber, said other sealing means being positioned around a portionof said sleeve which is of reduced diameter, and a valve controlled gasline interconnecting said pressurechamber for `filament forming materialwith the said annular groove of said ring.

, '7. The system of apparatus comprising a plu rality of mixingchambers, means for supplying filament forming material to said mixingcham- ,bers under pressure, means for supplying a -con- .fining liquidunder pressure to said mixing chambers in which each mixingchambercomprises a head having a central bore, a hollow'sleeve member extendingthrough said head in to said chamber, said means for supplying filament4forming material extending through said sleeve and communicating withsaid filamentforming liquid manifold, packing means between said `headand said sleeve, a collar surroundingsaid tube having an outwardlyextending shoulder, the upper end of said sleeve being recessed toreceive said collar, an adjustable cap surrounding the upper end of saidsleeve and bearing on said shoulder, and sealing means within saidrecess around said tube beneath said collar.

8. A system of apparatus formanufacturing filamentary articles whichcomprises a plurality of mixing chambers, a first liquid manifold andconduit means interconnecting said first liquid .v manifold withsaidmixing chambers individually, a second liquid manifold and conduitmeans communicating between said second liquid manifold and said-mixingchambers individually and discharging into said mixing chambers belowthev conduit means from said rst liquid manifold, a tube leading fromeach of said mixing chambers and each having its longitudinal axisaligned withV the dischargeend of the conduit means leading to themixing chamber from said rst liquid manifold, a plurality of closedpressure chambers, a source of compressed air, conduits between saidpressure chambers `and said manifolds respectively for supplying liquidto said manifolds under pressure, and connections between said source ofcompressed air and said pressure chambers respectively, and a gasconnection between one of the pressure chambers and said mixing chambersindividually to control the pressure differential between said mixingchambers and said pressure chamber.

9. The system of. apparatus comprising a plurality of mixing chambers,means for supplying filament forming material to said mixing chambersunder pressure, means for supplying a confining liquid under pressure tosaid mixing cham bers in which each mixing chamber comprises a head, abase, a member closed except at its ends disposed between said head andbase, and means for interconnecting said head and base to hold saidmember between them, coupling means uniting said base to said secondliquid manifold, said means for supplying a confining liquid includingport means in said base communicating between the interior of saidsecond liquid manifold and the chamber defined within said memberbetween said head and said base.

10. The system of apparatus as claimed in claim 9 in which said portmeans comprises passageways of increasing cross sectional area frombottom to top.

11. The system of apparatus as claimed in claim 9 in which the bottomsurface of said head and the top surface of said base are grooved toreceive the upper and lower edges of said member.

12. A system of apparatus for manufacturing iilamentary articles whichcomprises, a closed chamber defining a confined air space, a first tubepassing into the chamber through its bottom with the top of the tubedisposed above the `bottom of the chamber and a substantial distancebelow the top of the chamber, conduit means for` introducing a firstliquid into said chamber from the bottom of the chamber so that it owsup around the said upper portion of said -tube which is within thechamber and cascades into the tube over the upper rim thereof, a secondtube extending into said chamber with its discharge end aligned with thelongitudinal axis of said first tube to discharge a second liquid intosaid first `tube at substantially the center of the flow of said firstliquid into said rst tube over the upper rim of the first tube, meansfor controlling the pressure under which said first 4liquid is suppliedto said chamber, and means for controlling the pressure under whichsa-id second liquid is supplied to said chamber, including means forintroducing gas into, or withdrawing it from, said chamber above thelevel of said first liquid within said chamber.

13. `A system of apparatus for manufacturing filamentary articles whichcomprises, a closed chamber defining a confined air space, a first tubepassing into the chamber through its bottom with the top of the tubedisposed above the bottom of the chamber and a substantial distancebelow the top of the chamber, conduit means for introducing a rst liquidinto said chamber from the bottom of the chamber so that it Vflows uparound the said upper portion of said tube which is within the chamberand cascades ,into the tube over the upper rim thereof, a second tubeextending into said chamber with its discharge end aligned with thelongitudinal axis of said first tube to discharge a second liquid intosaid first tube at substantially the center of the fiow of said firstliquid into said first tube over the upper rim of the first tube, meansfor controlling the pressure under which said first liquid is suppliedto said chamber, and means for controlling the pressure under which saidsecond liquid is supplied to said chamber, including means forintroducing gas into, or withdrawing it from, said chamber above thelevel of said first liquid Within said chamber, the internal bore ofsaid first tube being iiared outwardly at its upper end.

14. A system of apparatus for manufacturing lamentary articles whichcomprises, a closed chamber defining a confined space, a first tubepassing into the chamber through its bottom With the top of the tubedisposed above the bottom of the chamber and a substantial distancebelow the top of the chamber, conduit means for introducing a firstliquid into said chamber from the bottom of the chamber so that it flowsup around the said upper portion of said tube which is within thechamber and cascades into the tube over the upper rim thereof, a secondtube extending into said chamber with its discharge end aligned with thelongitudinal axis of said first tube to discharge a second liquid intosaid rst tube at substantially the center of the fiow of said firstliquid into said first tube over the upper rim of the first tube, meansfor controlling the pressure under which said first liquid is suppliedto said chamber, and means` for controlling the pressure under whichsaid second liquid is supplied to said chamber, including means forregulating the level of said first liquid Within said chamber byintroducing gas into, or withdrawing it from, said chamber above thesaid rst liquid.

15. In a system of apparatus for manufacturing filamentary articles, anenclosed chamber, an

'elongated vertically `through the bottom of said chamber, a sourceaten-stt disposed tube extending of supply of lament forming material, asource of supply of a confining liquid, conduit means extending from thesource of supply of said conning liquid through the bottom of saidchamber and'discha'rging into said chamber around said `tube with abalancedfflow thereby achieving even l'center of the said iioW ofconning liquid, and

means for admitting gas to said chamber and for exhausting it from saidchamber to control the pressure within said chamber.

16. An element of apparatus particularly Y adapted for formingcontinuous filamentary articles from a coagulable liquid whichcomprises, a vertically disposed cylindrical'body member, a

'ianged head member mounted atop the body `member Vand having agroove inits under surface into which the upper rim of the body member extends, aflanged base member having a groove in its upper surface into which thelower rim of the body member extends, screw means Vextending between theflangeof said head member and the flange of said base member serving torender the connections between the body member and the head and basemembers essentially gas tight, a sleeve member extending vertically Ythrough a complementary opening in said head member and into the chamberdefined in part by said body member, vsealingV meansV interposed betweensaid sleeve member and said head member, a supplyt tube extendingthrough said sleeve member and into the saidrchamber to a pointbeyondthe lower end of the sleeve member, a tubular member extendingthrough an aperture in said base member and into said chamber to a pointbelow the' lower end of Said Supply' tube, the vertical axis of saidtubular member `coinciding substantially with the vertical axis of saidsupply tube, and a plurality of vertical passageways in said base memberspaced about the aper- Y ture therein through which said tubular memberpasss. Y 17. The apparatus claimed in claim 16 in whic said tubularmember is iiared at its upper' end. I 18. The apparatus claimed in'claim 416 in which the said vertical passageways said base member eachincreasepregressively in cross sectional area from bottom to top. Y

ALBERT o. RYAN.

REFERENCES CITED Thev following references are of record in the ,file ofthis patent: Y

UNITED STATS'PATENTS Number Name Date` 9157.460 Elsasser May 10, 19101,676,334 vKempf V July 10, 1928 2,046,575 O'stermami es n July 7, 19362,402,846

